{"id":84,"date":"2016-11-09T00:01:00","date_gmt":"2016-11-09T00:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/i3works.bluetree.uk\/news\/?p=84"},"modified":"2019-12-08T21:41:00","modified_gmt":"2019-12-08T21:41:00","slug":"project-managers-the-perfect-triangle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.i3works.co.uk\/news\/2016\/11\/project-managers-the-perfect-triangle\/","title":{"rendered":"Project Managers: The Perfect Triangle"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This article looks at what makes a\n great project manager (PM) and will assist potential PM\u2019s to decide \nwhether they are looking at the right career.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Author: Dominic Hansell, Senior Consultant at i3Works Ltd. Dominic has over 15 years of experience in project management roles.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

It frustrates me that I often hear people explaining they\u2019re \u201c\u2026going \nto be a project manager\u2026\u201d, often as a second career, despite the fact \nthey\u2019re not suited to the role and have little idea as to what\u2019s \nactually involved on a day to day basis. The key problem is it\u2019s a \ngeneric term and the role in one organisation can mean something quite \ndifferent elsewhere. In addition, it\u2019s relatively straight forward to \npass a Prince2 or APMP course and then make the claim, \u201cI\u2019m a qualified \nProject Manager!\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, in addition to qualifications<\/strong>, what other key factors should be considered? In order to make the perfect triangular combination, experience<\/strong> and skills <\/strong>need to be added.<\/strong>\n This article looks at what makes a great project manager (PM) and will \nassist potential PM\u2019s to decide whether they are looking at the right \ncareer. Let\u2019s consider what I see as the Top 5 areas\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  1. Leader<\/strong> – a PM needs to be inspirational; to lead \nfrom the front and, ideally, undertake any task that they would ask \ntheir team to perform. This might mean anything from office \nadministration, such as booking meeting rooms and noting actions through\n to writing business cases and debating your standpoint with the \nsteering committee. There are obvious exceptions to this rule, such as \nhighly technical work, but a PM must learn the basics, even if that\u2019s to\n do no more than counter estimates of work as ludicrous (whether they be\n very high or very low!). A high ranking officer in the British Army \nonce told me they wouldn\u2019t ask any of the soldiers in their command to \ndo something they weren\u2019t prepared to do themselves. This might be an \neasy clich\u00e9 to dismiss out of hand, but I could sense there was genuine \nhonesty in the statement. Team members will detect sincerity in an \ninstant and that will start to build a trust amongst the team and \nconfidence in their leader that will hopefully pervade throughout \npromoting a determined, \u2018can-do attitude\u2019 within the team. This must be \ncoupled with the ability to delegate the right tasks to the right team \nmembers at the right time and will be enhanced by the PM making \ndifficult decisions, which all great leaders are able to do, taking the \nproject team with them on the collective journey.
    \n\t <\/li>
  2. Team Builder<\/strong> \u2013 it goes without saying that people \nare everything and the PM has to be the glue that joins the various \nteams together within a project. From creating to improving an existing \nteam, either by making changes in personnel and\/or processes, the PM is \nresponsible for ensuring the team is a high performing machine. This \ndoesn\u2019t happen by accident, so careful recruitment and management is \nneeded to ensure the individuals function together, understand the part \nthey play and what the overall objectives are. The PM will need to \nunderstand the wants and needs of individuals and be confident that \nthey\u2019ll be a good fit. Whether each of Belbin\u2019s types needs to be \nrepresented is a debate for another time, but it is vital that ongoing \nmonitoring of team dynamics, paired with intervention where necessary, \nis carried out as a matter of course. A good dose of empathy will go a \nlong way to ensuring strong 121 relationships are built that create \nformidable team foundations.
    \n\t <\/li>
  3. All-Rounder<\/strong> \u2013 sounds obvious, but ultimately a \ngreat project manager needs to be a great all-rounder and although we \ncan\u2019t expect to be the \u2018best in class\u2019 in all the relevant disciplines \nand behaviours, there\u2019s a minimum level required in each to succeed \noverall. A great PM needs to be organised and be able to focus on others\n as well as themselves, ensuring that they do their job, and can \nmulti-task effectively. They must demonstrate integrity of the highest \norder, but also undertake a multitude of roles. For example, they must \nbe a salesperson on numerous levels; selling the project to would be \nteam members, selling benefits to customers, selling the business case \nto the project sponsor \u2013 sell, sell, sell!
    \n\t <\/li>
  4. Problem Solver<\/strong> \u2013 ideally, a PM should have an \ninterest in problem solving, coupled with an unhealthy desire to \nsucceed. Things will always go wrong \u2013 that\u2019s not in doubt, but the \nsuccess of the project will be measured against what is delivered and a \nnatural problem solver will always thrive building solutions to those \nproblems, ideally with a positive attitude that permeates the team. This\n not only includes the initially defined project deliverables, but also \nhow the PM copes with changes and challenges following initial project \nsign off. A measure of success should in part be based on how unknowns \nare handled, rather than just the knowns. A project manager is a \nchampion of change by definition, so they must be able to manage change \nas a matter of course, embracing challenges whilst keeping an eye on the\n overall strategy and the key deliverables. The predictable mantra:  \ndeliver, deliver, deliver\u2026
    \n\t <\/li>
  5. Communicator<\/strong> \u2013 interpersonal skills need to be at \nexpert level; building and maintaining strong working relationships with\n all \u2018stakeholders\u2019 is a must; whether they be customers, colleagues, \nsuppliers or partners. A great working relationship doesn\u2019t mean being \nbest-friends, but instead gaining an understanding of what both parties \ndesire and will view as successful; primarily from a business \nperspective and then from a personal stand point if the ambition to move\n from a performing to high performing team is to be achieved. Building a\n rapport will increase the likelihood of influencing at all levels and a\n great PM will schedule time in their week to spend valuable \u2018informal\u2019 \n121 time with different members of the local and wider team to gauge \nprogress and contentment levels.<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    A director at a major UK Life & Pensions business told me they \nwere concerned when an outsource partner quoted a very low estimate for \neach policy administered. They spoke to their partner and stressed that \nthey had no interest in driving the cost down to that level, stating \u201c\u2026I\n want both parties to be successful\u2026\u201d, which led to a revised estimate \nand ultimately a longer lasting and profitable relationship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    It\u2019s vital that a PM knows what to communicate, when and to whom. Sounds simple, but the need for a \u2018Comms Plan\u2019 on all but the simplest of projects would suggest otherwise! They should challenge the \u2018norm\u2019 and re-use work wherever possible, for example, huge amounts of time can be wasted writing reports that are never read; all too often, work is carried out purely because \u201c\u2026that\u2019s how we\u2019ve always done it here\u2026\u201d, where a challenge to the requestor might be met with an agreement and new simpler way of working. A PM should seek feedback on a regular basis \u2013 this should not be viewed as a weakness, on the contrary, it should be viewed as part of a personal continuous improvement process\u2026which leads us back to experience\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Simply passing the Prince2 or APMP practitioner course alone doesn\u2019t \nmake a great project manager, but with a sprinkling of experience, the \nright skills and behaviours will go a long way to ensuring success.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Whether you\u2019re considering a career in project management, or \ndeciding who to recruit, I urge you to consider the \u2018perfect triangle\u2019 \n(regardless of whether it\u2019s equilateral) before making a decision!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    This article looks at what makes a great project manager (PM) and will assist potential PM\u2019s to decide whether they are looking at the right career. Author: Dominic Hansell, Senior Consultant at i3Works Ltd. Dominic has over 15 years of experience in project management roles.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":146,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-84","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.i3works.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.i3works.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.i3works.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.i3works.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.i3works.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=84"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.i3works.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":190,"href":"https:\/\/www.i3works.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84\/revisions\/190"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.i3works.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/146"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.i3works.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=84"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.i3works.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=84"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.i3works.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=84"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}